Fly holder



May 15, 1928. 1,669,928

J. I. cAsi:

FLY HOLDER Filed May 24, 1926 if 15 C MN N W NW \D 5f 12 frnfenm Jerome a$efl W Patented May 15, 1928.

JEROME I. (men, or Wisconsin.

FLY noises Applicationmea Ma'y'24; 192a swarm. 11.1,317.

This invention relates toe fly-holder, and more particularly to an improved means for conveniently and firmly holding, for protection and transportation, the artificial flies or bait used by fishermen.

. Specifically, a closely coiled metal spring, or similar resilient member, is held by 1ts ends, in a slightly extended condition be tween the opposite side Walls of a shallow receptacle. The looped hook end of the fly is pushed between two adjacent coils of the spring and is held by spring pressure be tween these spring coils.

The main object of the invention is to pro vide an improved fly-holder of the type briefly referred to hereinabove, and described more in detail in the present specifioat'ion. r

Another object is to: provide a fly holder consisting of a closely coiled spring, in combination' with means for supportingthe spring preferably byits ends. 7

Another object is to provide spring flyholder ofthis type, so formed that the flies held thereby will be positioned 1 in planes at acnte anglesto the longitudinal center lin'e of the spring, so thattheflieswill beposh tioned approximately: parallel with the bottom of the shallow receptacle. ject is to provide means for detachably' and adjustably supporting the several springs within the receptacle; 7

Another object to provide'ineans for supporting the springs so that they can be readily transferred, with the flies heldthereby, fromone receptacle to all0l3l1 Bl',fO1 exam let'ronia tackle box to ally-book.

mother object is to provide an improved fiy=book provided with fly-ho'lders of the type herein disclosed.

Otherobje'cts and advantages of this in vention will be apparent froni'the following detailed descriptionof certain ap roved enibodiments o f I the invention.

Figrl is-aerspect ve View of the iinproved fiy-book in open position.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through: his fly. hook, partly brokenfaway at oneend;

the y bookmeinbei's.

Fig; his a detail 'vievvofeneof the fly- Another obholding springs, detached from its supports.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one approved forn'i oftackleboX, with some of the features of this invention applied thereto.

Referringfir'st to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the in1- proved fly-book comprises two similar nietallic members, 1 and 2 in the form of shallow receptacles, which are hinged together at two adjacent edges, as indicated as 3, the other edges of members 1 and 2 being provid ed with cooperating clasp members 4 and 5' whereby the two members may be secured together When fo'lded against one another,

so that the member 2 forms a closure for the member 1. hen thus folded, the book is small and compact, and may be easily car ried in the fisher'mans'coat pocket. Metal angle strips 6 are secured to the opposing mner sides oi the upstanding longitudinal side Walls 7 and 8 ofeach receptacle by soldering or otherwise securing one flange of theangle stripto the adjacent Wall. The other flange 9 of the angle memberextends inwardly, substantially parallel with the bottom 10 of'the receptacle, and is provided with aseries of spaced holes or openings 11.

The fiy-h'olding members are here shown in the form of closely coiled metal, preferably b'rass, springs 12, each spring having eyelets or hooks 13, formed preferably integrally at each end thereof. These hooks 18 are adapted to be reinovably engaged in the hole 11 in the anglestrips (i. 4', the springs 12 are so formed that when dotached from thefiy-bo'ok, the adjacent coils of the spring Will be heldclosely adjacentone another by'the spring pressure, and the spring is soni'ervhat'shorter than the distance between the apeiitures 11 in the opposite angle stripgfi. l'Vhen the spring is hooked into position within the fly-book, it will have to be somewhat extended, so that it Will be stretchedtautly between the opposite side Walls of the receptacle. At the same time, the spaces 14: between adjacent coils of the spring will be so narrow looped end of the hook of the fly is pushed intoon'e of these spaces, the spring Willbe' further distended and the book will be gripped by a considerable spring pressure and held securelyin place. The fish-hooks may be easily positioned in the holders by As indicated in Fig. 9

that when the any pair of spring coils,

simply pushing the loop of the hook between a finger being placed against the opposite side of the spring to hold the spring in place during this operation. YVhile holding the hook adjacent one side of the spring, and pushing the spring toward the hook by a finger placed against the opposite side of the spring, the spaces 14 will be opened on'the side toward the hook, which will simplify the engaging operation. The hook or fly may be easily detached by simply pullingit out of the spring coil:

The ordinary form of spring coil shown in Fig. 4 and at the right of Flg. 2, is suitable for the smaller sizes of hooks and flies, which can stand vertically within the receptacle, that is, in planes substantially perpendicular to the center line of the spring.

For accommodating larger hooks and flies, the form of spring holders shown in Fig. 3 and at the left of Fig. 2 is better adapted. In this spring the coils 15 are flattened out in one direction, so that the planes of all of the coils are at acute angles to the center line of the spring, andthe spaces 16 between adjacent coils slant over at such angles that when a hook or fly 17, (see Fig. 3), is inserted in one of the spaces 16, the fly will lie approximately parallel to the bottom wall of the receptacle, or at such an acute angle therewith that it is easily accommodated within the shallow receptacle. Springs of both types, -12 and 15, can be used within the same receptacle or fly-hook, so that all sizes of flies can be conveniently accommodated in the same book. A plurality of rather closely spaced openings 11 are provided in each of the angle strips 6, and the hooks 13 of the springs may be selectively engaged with any of these openings so that the springs may be adjustably spaced apart to accommodate'any desired number or size of flies.

In ig. 5 is illustrated an improved form of tackle box or carrying case, having a handle 19 on its upper end. The front wall or closure 20 is adapted to slide into the bottom of the case when opened, as shown in Fig. 5. A lock 21 holds the cover 20 in closed position. A plurality of drawers or trays 22, 23, 24 and 25 are provided within the tackle box for holding the fishing equipment. One or more of these trays (for example the tray 23, here shown as partially opened or withdrawn), is divided into a plurality of transverse compartments 26, preferably of substantially the same width as the members 1 andr2 of the flybook previously described. The opposite side walls of these compartments are provided with apertured angle strips 27, or similar to the angle strip: fly-book, whereby the fly or 15 may be removably their equivalents, 6 provided in the holding springs 12 26 of the tackle mounted in these compartments 26 in exactly the same manner as in the fly-book. An almost limitless variety of flies and similar equipment, can thus be preserved, and classified, in different compartments of the tackle box, and when desired for use in any particular fishing expedition any one spring holder, with the flies carried thereby, can be bodily unhooked from the compartment boxin which it is customarily mounted and transferred to the flybook. In this way any group or groups of related flies can be transferred from the tackle box to the fly-book or vice versa, without necessarily handling each individual fly. Obviously, the tray of a tackle box of the more ordinary form could be divided into compartments similar to the A compartments 26 of tray 23 described above, and equipped for holding the'flies in the same manner. a

In Fig. 5, we have shown one longer compartment 28 in the tray 23, provided with a pair of holding springs 29 spaced further apart than those customarily used for holding flies or hooks. A plurality of leaders 30 may be maintained, extended and separated from one another in the. compartment 28 by merely pushing the end portions of the respective leaders between different convolutions of the coiled springs 29. This will prevent confusion and tangling of the leaders, enable themto dry quickly, and keep them all individually visible, so that the desired leader can be easily selected.

While these holders are especially adapted for holding flies, they could obviously be used in the same manner for holding ordinary fish hooks or other similar fishing equipment. Flies held in containers equipped with these holding springs, will be maintained in fixed positions separated sufficiently from one another so that the feathers will dry out smooth and fluffy, and the eflective life of the flies will be substantially increased. If desired, the inner surfaces of the compartments in the fly-book or tackle box can be painted white so as to render the contents of the compartments more easily visible when fishing at night.

Although only two suitable forms of holding springs have been described hereinabovc, these metallic holding members might be made by bending the spring wire into other forms or designs than those here illustrated by way of example, it only being essentialv that spaces remain between adjacent portions of the spring wire into. which the flies may be pushed and firmly gripped.

I claim: A fly-book comprising a pair of shallow receptacles hinged together along two ads jacent edges, clasp members secured to .the opposite edges of the receptacles whereby they may be swung togetherand secured so spring is stretched between the side walls of one of the receptacles so as to permit a. fly hook to be engaged between the coils 10 thereof by arearward movement of the fly, the hooked ends being engaged in selected openings in the flanges.

JEROME I. CASE. 

